On the temperature evolution during continuous laser-assisted tape winding of multiple C/PEEK layers: The effect of roller deformation

Laser-assisted tape winding (LATW) is a highly automated process for manufacturing tubular-like fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites such as flywheels and pipes. One of the crucial parameters in the LATW process is the temperature of the nip point at which the incoming prepreg tape is bonded with the substrate by a compaction roller. Therefore, the temperature evolution of the nip point plays a significant role to have a proper consolidation at the tape-substrate interface. The nip point temperature is highly affected by the time-dependent geometry of the substrate and roller during continuous LATW of thick composite rings. In this paper, a critical assessment of the substrate and tape surface temperature evolution is investigated experimentally by means of a thermal camera during the LATW process of a 26-layers thick carbon/PEEK composites. A three-dimensional (3D) optical model is coupled with a thermal model in which the substrate computational domain is updated with respect to the deposited tapes. A good agreement is found between the measured and predicted tape and substrate temperatures. The total absorbed heat and heated length of the substrate and tape are described based on the roller deformation. An increase in tape and substrate nip point temperatures is found with an increase in roller deformation during consecutive winding. It is also found that the consolidation pressure and contact length at the roller-substrate interface increases during the winding process. Accordingly, the heat transfer coefficient at the roller-substrate interface is studied using the developed process model.